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This delicious bowl of birria ramen features instant noodles cooked with leftover succulent, shredded birria meat and a flavorful birria broth served with various toppings for a filling meal.
My family LOVES it when I make a batch of my birria because it means the leftover meat will be re-purposed to make quesabirria tacos, birria quesadillas, birria pizza, and my all-time favorite birria ramen.
If you aren’t familiar with birria, it’s a Mexican-style beef stew (or sometimes goat or pork) combining chuck beef, chilies, seasonings, and vinegar. The meat is slowly braised, and the meat and the liquid are mouthwateringly delicious.
Now, we all know simple, instant ramen is nothing special (unless it’s my spicy ramen), but add some of the birria broth (consommé), shredded birria meat, and a simple soft-boiled egg, and you have a dish worthy of any restaurant!
Table of Contents
Recipe highlights
- It is a wholesome meal. Protein, wholesome carbs, and healthy fats!
- Deliciously spicy. If you enjoy savory, pleasantly spicy food (like Korean spicy noodles) this recipe will not disappoint. Of course, if you aren’t a fan of intense spice, you can cut back on the spice by adding more broth.
- Quick. This recipe praises leftovers, which are repurposed with very little prep.
- Customizable. I keep things simple with a boiled egg and some sliced green onions but you can add any vegetables and/or seasonings of choice.
- Incredible flavor. What I love about this recipe is the blend of comforting flavors and textures. The melt-in-your-mouth beef combined with chewy ramen and a silky broth is a treat for every ramen lover.
Ingredients Needed
Honestly, all you need to do is make my famous birria, and you’ll have the foundations to make this dish with very little prep time. Here is what you’ll need:
- Birria (prepared). Check out the link to the left for my homemade birria recipe. You’ll need both the shredded beef and the broth for the ramen, so keep them separate until needed.
- Ramen noodles. Use your favorite brand of noodles, and of course, discard the flavoring packets because they aren’t needed.
- Eggs. This is optional, but who doesn’t love a good soft-boiled egg?
- Green onions. Thinly sliced.
- Salt and black pepper. To taste.
- Radish, fresh cilantro, and lime wedges. To garnish.
How to make birria ramen
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Boil the ramen. Bring the birria cooking liquid and meat to a simmer over medium-high heat in a small pot or saucepan. Add the instant noodles, and cook per the package instructions.
Step 2- Boil eggs. Boil eggs for about five minutes in a separate saucepan until runny inside.
Step 3- Garnish and serve. Portion the cooked noodles into bowls, top them with radishes, sliced green onions, eggs, cilantro, and lemon wedges, and serve hot!
Recipe tips and variations
- Boil noodles in the birria broth. To maximize the flavor of the noodles, cook the ramen noodles in the broth and not in water. I recommend adding the consomme a little at a time to prevent it from being too salty.
- Adjust the consistency of the ramen. Some members of my family like a more soupy ramen, so I typically add more water while boiling their noodles and/or sub it out with some chicken broth.
- Add vegetables. Amp up the broth by adding some sliced mushrooms, tomatoes, and thinly sliced cabbage.
- Tone down the heat. Not everyone is a spice fiend like me, so if even moderate spice is too much, use fewer chiles in the broth to dial things down. Another way I like to counter the heat when serving others is to top the ramen with buttery sliced avocados or a dollop of sour cream.
- Use a different protein. You can prepare Mexican-style meat like carnitas, beef barbacoa, or carne asada using the birria method and use it in this ramen.
How to store leftovers
To store. You can refrigerate the leftovers, covered, for 2-3 days.
To freeze. I don’t advise freezing noodles as they tend to lose their structure upon thawing. But you can freeze the birria meat and broth separately in ziplock bags for later use.
To reheat. Heat the leftover ramen in the microwave for a few seconds to enjoy it warm.
Frequently asked questions
Although I have not tried making this recipe with other noodles, I encourage you to cook with angel hair, spaghetti, rice, egg, or soba noodles.
You could cook fried tempeh or air fry tofu in a vegetarian birria-spiced broth and use it as a base to make this ramen.
The birria meat and broth is gluten-free, so use gluten-free noodles to make the dish suitable for celiacs.
More comforting soups and stews you’ll love
- Carne guisada– This Mexican beef stew would work well to swap out the birria meat.
- Mexican soup– All your favorite Mexican flavors in a hearty bowl and of course, lots of toppings.
- No bean chili– This is my meat-loving family’s favorite winter dish.
- Stuffed pepper soup– All the best parts of a stuffed pepper in soup form.
Birria Ramen
Video
Ingredients
- 2 packets ramen noodles discard seasoning packages
- 4 cups birria broth click link for the recipe
- 1 cup birria meat click link for the recipe
- 2 large eggs
- 1 green onion sliced
Instructions
- In a saucepan, heat the Birria broth with meat until it starts boiling. If you'd like a thinner soup, add one cup of water or beef broth.
- Add ramen noodles to the soup and cook per package instructions and set aside.
- Boil the eggs for 5 minutes, until soft boiled.
- Divide the soup between two bowls, slice an egg in half in each one and sprinkle with sliced green onions.
